Adrian Stokes: Art Writers in Britain Description by Philip Stokes

Adrian Stokes sitting on the work table in my messy bedroom in Hampstead, London.

I was fifteen years old and the paraphernalia is generated by my all consuming interest in electronics and sound. There is an army surplus wooden field telephone complete with ‘Head and Breast set’ screwed to the Georgian panelled wall along with my cat watercolours and an Alfred Wallis painting.

My father’s suit looks new but usually he wore a comfortable jacket and tie. This is one of a series of photos shot that day; others were taken in the street and down the road by the church. Some shots may have also been taken on Hampstead heath. I remember my mother Ann, saying they had enjoyed Anthony Armstrong Jones’ visit and that he seemed to be a very nice man.

The room later became Ann’s pottery workshop where she made good use of the same large Alvar Aalto designed table.

Philip Stokes
August 2013